Sony quietly starts selling Digital Paper E Ink tablet online

By Michelle Starr | Small Business

Sony

Sony's Digital Paper E Ink e-reader/tablet hybrid has now been made available to buy, directly through the Sony website, as well as from the licensed resellers through which the tablet started being sold in May, Good E Reader has reported.

Sony has also updated its web page for the tablet to expound on its features. Although it looks like a large e-reader, the company has expanded a few features and minimised others for professional use. Sony was always best, for instance, at reflowing PDFs in its e-readers; now the Digital Paper acts as a full-size PDF reader, allowing you to use a stylus to make notes.

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You can also use the device as a notepad, using the stylus to write like you would on a pad of paper; in the case of Digital Paper, however, you can sync all your notes via the cloud so that you can access them anywhere; and, unlike conventional tablets, you can rest our hand on the screen.

Conversely, the reader only supports one file type -- PDF -- so you were looking to use it as an e-reader, you'll need to make sure you can get the book you want as a PDF, or make sure that it is DRM-free so that you can convert it.

One other potential use is sheet music; although digital sheet music is available, most screens are too small to display it at an appropriate distance compared to printed sheet music.

However, the company has made it pretty clear that the device is mainly for student and professional use; on the new website, it shows several examples of how it thinks the tablet might be used, including law, entertainment, and higher education.

It's also important to note, according to Good E Reader, that Sony is not offering customer support for the Digital Reader -- possibly the reason for its quiet launch on the Sony Store -- and that it will not be shipping it to addresses outside the US.